Soft
by perkisaur
Summary: Orihime gets put under the care of Starrk. umm, I can't summarise, please read! rating will go up over time starrk/orihime and maybe a little bit of ulquihime? maybe.. i don't even have a plot yet, so. :
1. Chapter 1

**AU: Wow! My first story! How exciting! I'm not much of a writer, so this will probably bore you all to death, but, you know, I wanted to give writing a go, and there's not enough Orihime/Starrk loving in this world!**  
**Also, i spell starrk like that, with two R's. i don't really know if thats right or not, but i've gotten used to writing it that way so..**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach sad face.**

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Whenever he entered her cell, she would be stood in the patch of moonlight that managed to squeeze between the bars of the solitary window.

He didn't understand what she looked at all day, or how she could look at it for so long without growing bored. There were many things he didn't understand about her.

"_Humans_." he thought.

"Woman." he called out in his low,monotone voice.

She spun around, her auburn tresses swirling behind her as she did so.

"U-Ulquiorra." she stuttered, out of fear or shock, he did not know or care.

"As of tomorrow, you will no longer be in my care."

Orihime stared at the emotionless Espada. His emerald green eyes were the only thing that made him seem alive.

The though of him not being her caretaker gave her a small shimmer of happiness. He was rude and impolite to her; calling her 'Woman' and disrespecting her friends and beliefs. But that happiness soon vanished as a new realisation dawned upon her. Who would look after her instead? Grimmjow? Nnoitra? Yammy? She shuddered at the thought of any of them 'looking after her well being'. She realised that she'd rather have Ulquiorra than one of those three.

"Why? Who will look after me instead?"

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, and inside his hakama, his fists clenched.

"I am being relieved of this duty because I failed to protect you from those two intruding arrancar, who went on to injure you."

Orihime trembled at the thought of Loly and Menoly. She still had bruises.

"So, Aizen-sama appointed someone else to be your carer. Coyote Starrk."

"Starrk?" Orihime furrowed her eyebrows. She had only seen Starrk a couple of times in meetings with Aizen and the other Espada. Whenever she saw him he looked utterly bored and as if he could fall asleep at any minute. Surely, it would be worse to have him look after her instead of Ulquiorra?

"Tomorrow I will come to escort you to your new cell."

She looked up. "I have to move?"

He nodded and sighed inwardly. Why did she have to question everything?

"You are being moved to a room closer to Starrk's quarters, he currently resides on the opposite side of Las Noches. It would be troublesome for him to come here three times a day.

Orihime nodded. Strangely, she didn't feel worried about the change in caretaker. Starrk was the one of the few Espada that didn't give off an aura of evil, but she could be wrong…

Ulquiorra turned towards the door "I will be back soon with your meal."

He left silently, locking the door behind him.

Orihime turned back to face the window slowly, letting all of the new information sink in. Starrk would be her new caretaker...

"I hope he's nice…" she said to herself. A cold breeze drifted in through the window and wrapped its chilly fingers around her small frame. She shivered.

" and I hope the room is nicer…" she said looking around. All she had was a bed, a couch and a small table.

She rubbed her arms and made her way to her bed. She kicked off her black shiny boots and crawled into her bed. It was hard as rock.

" and I hope the bed is softer.."

Shivering again she pulled the thin sheets over her.

" I wonder what rank Starrk is...or what his fraccion are like, if he has any..."

Slowly, she drifted to sleep with thoughts of Starrk drifting through her mind.

Ulquiorra was very annoyed when he came in half an hour later with a tray of food to find a sleeping Orihime.

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**Right, so here's the first chapter. i don't really know how its all going to turn out yet, so just bear with me!**

**I'd really appreciate it if you could, you know, maybe just click the review button down there? if you review, then i can improve, and make it more enjoyable for you guys, so really, you win. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

hey readers! thankyou to everyone who reviewed! you made me feel so motivated, so i wrote this as quickly as i could :)  
This chapter is a bit short, there was going to be like a bit from orihimes perspective, going to meet starrk and stuff, but I didn't like it, so i took it off. i might use it later in like a flashback or something. Who knows?

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"Starrk?"

"Starrk!"

"Star~rk!"

"STARRK!"

"Why you son of a…guess I'll have to use the nipple twist," she sighed, "and I was hoping to save this for some other time."

The young, female fraccion began puling at her master's shirt, for better access to his chest.

"Lilynette, please stop."

She almost jumped out of her skin

"St-starrk! you're…awake?"

He stared at her lazily through one eye, the other still closed and under his arm.

"Mmm."

"B-but…how?! I mean, I didn't use any violence!" she crossed her arms and pouted.

"I heard the words 'nipple twist' and my Lilynette senses started tingling." He said dryly, before sitting up and rubbing his eyes, "anyway, why'd you wake me up so early?"

She blinked. "its 1 o'clock"

"So why'd you wake me up so early?" running his hand through his thick locks in irritation

"uhh.. well that girl is coming over in an hour, the one you have to look after."

Starrk grumbeled and fell back onto the soft bed,closing his eyes.

"If she's coming in an hour, why did you wake me now?"

"Because Starrk, you need a shower! You want to look presentable,right?"

She jumped on him and started bouncing up and down on his stomach

"So get up you lazy bastard!"

"oof! Ugh! O-ok! Argh! ok!"

Lilynette ceased her bouncing and walked towards the door as he sat up again

"I'm gonna go hang out with Tesla and Luca. Remember that her and Ulquiorra will be here around 2."

"'kay.." he said as he watched her leave, and as soon as she was out of the room he flopped back down and rolled onto his side. He sighed out of happiness.

"sleeeep time"

"Don't just go back to sleep as soon as I'm gone, you jerk!!" she kicked him hard in the back

"Oww! Lilynette! How did you get back in here so fast?!"

"It's no concern of yours! Now get in that shower! You stink!" she continued to kick him until he almost ran to the bathroom.

She eventually left when she heard the water running and saw the steam rise from under the bathroom door.

In the bathroom, pulled off his shirt and gloves and tested the water. It was almost scorching. Just how he liked it. He stripped down and got in, letting the water's heat seep into him, soothing his muscles. He sighed in content.

This shower was actually really nice; he'd have to thank Lilynette later. It felt like it was washing all his worries away, not that he had many, but this whole 'caretaker' thing was unnerving him slightly. How is he going to be able to get up in the mornings to take her breakfast?

He shook his head as he bent down to get his shampoo- strawberry scented…

"_Whatever a strawberry is_." he thought. He lathered the pinkish-white gloop into his hair and massaged his scalp. He didn't care if it made him feel girly, having nice looking hair was important.

"_Damn…now I feel even girlier_."

After he rinsed away the shampoo, he shut off the water and wrapped a white towel around his waist.

He grabbed another towel and roughly dried his hair and his shoulders.

"Just a small town girl

Living in a lonely world

She took the midnight train going anywhere~" he sang to himself.

It was one of the only songs he knew, and he had heard it on one of his rare missions in the human world and had instantly fallen in love with the tune.

He threw the towel he was using to dry his hair on the floor and walked out of the bathroom singing the rest of the song.

"Starrk."

He looked up and saw an Irritated Ulquiorra and a blushing red-head behind him.

"oh…hello"

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I'll get on and start working on the next chapter soon as, i don't really like this one, don't know why :/  
I have a feeling that the chapters will probably be short,but lots of them. I find if they're too long then i start rambling.

thanks :) perkisaur


	3. Chapter 3

**oh my goodness! I bet you can't belive it! I can't believe it either...^^; sorry about the whole.. 'i haven't uptaded in forever' thing... i've been busy with school and such! plus i couldn't think how to start the chapter off. I don't even have a story line for this yet..lol well, I hope you forgive me? I finally got around to sorting out my emails and saw a i had a few story alerts and reviews and and the comments are so nice they're inspiring! so i though..meeh why not? I'm on a bit of a drawing block so I'll do some writing.**

**I hope you like the chapter? I'm not sure if I do yet.. there's not much orihime/starrk action yet.. but I don't want to rush it! I don't know. **

**Enjoy?**

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"Starrk" Ulquiorra voiced again, irritation seeping into his voice.

_I'm being replaced by this fool? The woman will surely die._

"Ulquiorra…you're here early." Starrk mumbled and rubbed the back of his head.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes.

"Incorrect. I am here on time. You are late."

"Oh… right well, sorry?"

Ulquiorra sighed mentally. This idiot didn't deserve the rank of Primera Espada.

His emerald eyes flashed open.

"I will take the woman to her cell. You must deliver her morning meal within the hour."

He spun on his heel; tail coats billowing behind him, before stark could say anything.

Orihime looked back at stark before falling into pace behind Ulquiorra.

Just then their eyes had met. Connected. It was like electricity. Her large orbs of brown seemed to capture him.

The door shut with a quiet thud and he let out a breath he didn't realise he had been holding. He blinked, shook his head with a weary smile on his features and set about getting dressed.

* * *

Orihime hurried along behind Ulquiorra, fidgeting with her hands. She felt weird. Nervous, sort of. Ever since she caught a glimpse of those shale eyes. There was something in them... Or the lack of something… they seemed empty in a way. Cold and …lonely almost. She couldn't put her finger on it. She glanced up and saw that Ulquiorra had stopped, and she managed to stop herself just in time to avoid bumping into him. He opened the door they had stopped in front of and he turned to her.

"These will be your new chambers."

She walked past him cautiously, taking in the new surroundings. It looked almost identical to her old room. Big, white and empty save for a familiar looking couch and bed.

She sighed, her hopes of having a nice colourful room evaporated.

She turned around to face Ulquiorra to see that he was still stood inside the doorway.

"I am no longer allowed to step inside your room, as I am no longer your care-taker." He explained.

Orihime looked down at her hands that were tangled up in front of her again "I see"

She felt his eyes on her and she looked up. They regarded each other.

"woman-" Ulquiorra began, wanting to ask her questions. So many questions buzzed through his skull. She was so illogical, talking of hearts and friends and emotions. It didn't make sense to him. He …wanted to understand.

He blinked.

"Yes, Ulquiorra?" she asked quietly

"Starrk should arrive shortly" he concluded solemnly before turning to leave

"Wait! Ulquiorra!" she ran forward and grabbed his hand. She didn't know what compelled her to do so.

He looked down at her hand on his. Her porcelain fingers stood out on his white skin. Like opposites, he thought, dead and alive. He looked at her

"Thank you. For looking after me." She said sincerely.

His viridian eyes closed.

"I was just following orders"

He turned to leave again and this time she didn't stop him. She watched him leave. Watched him close the door of her cell.

She was reminded then of the fact that she was a prisoner in this castle of white. She held her hands over her chest and sank to the floor. The sadness was heavy like a weight on her shoulders. She was crippled beneath it.

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**Yes, I apologize again. It's ridiculously short.I'm really quite bad at this... D: i don't even know what the last bit was about...**  
**so If you have any improvements or corrections then tell me and i'll try and sort it out for you guys... just please don't bite my head off at the awfulness!**

**perkisaur**


	4. Chapter 4

My my, would you look at this eh? Another chapter and this one is at least 10 words longer than the other one.

I hope everyone had a good chrimbo and new year? :)

Perkisaur

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Lilynette walked casually through the cold, white corridors that made up the majority of Las twisted and turned, opening up into large chambers where the weak gathered together and then condensing back to the regular serpentine pathways. She blew the pale green hair out of her face and stretched her arms, ignoring the looks she got from others. She didn't care what they thought about her. She was Starrk's fraccion -no, more than that. She was part of him, part of his soul. As long as she had him, she didn't need anyone else.

Soon enough, she reached the chamber that they frequently shared, although she had her own, and opened the door without knocking.

She looked around until her pink eye rested on Starrk, slouched on the couch and fast asleep. Her smile was genuine and loving, until a darkness fell over her and there was a malicious gleam in her eye. She ran straight for him, jumped, somersaulted and landed on his chest.

He woke with a start and pushed her off of himself as heavy coughs wracked his chest.

"Jesus Christ, Lilynette! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!"

She grinned and lounged on the white couch, inspecting her nails.

"So, how'd it go?"

He looked at her, his face blank of understanding.

"How'd what go?"

She turned to face him fully, "You know, the whole 'looking after Aizen's pet' scenario?"

His face turned white and he ran out of the room, cursing under his breath.

"Oh no... Starrk..." Lilynette groaned as she held he head in her hands and flopped down on the couch.

"Uhrrrrrrhhghghghhhhh"

"Quiet, you." Orihime sighed to her stomach for the thousandth time in 10 minutes.

After Ulquiorra had left, Starrk was meant to bring in her food...and that had been 4 hours ago. Curling up in a ball, she stared at the crescent moon that was visible through the bars of her window from her bed. She clutched her stomach as it grumbled again and looked longingly over to the door.

'This Coyote Starrk' she thought, 'Must be a lower ranked Espada…Lower than Ulquiorra."

Orihime shifted on the bed so that she was comfortable and found that a great tiredness could come from being empty on the inside…

Her umber eyes snapped open as her ears picked up the sounds of chaos and clatter coming from behind her doors. She sat up slowly, tucking her mussed auburn hair behind her ears and smoothing the ends-something she did when she was nervous. As she strained her ears she could pick up voices shouting and the heavy fall of rushed footsteps. Her chamber door swung open and she jumped, wide eyes focusing on a tall figure, hunched over a trolley, catching his breath. He looked up at her with apologetic eyes. Coyote Starrk closed the door and wheeled the trolley over to her wordlessly. The smell of freshly cooked food wafted over to her and she felt her own heartbeat increase. Never had she been so eager to eat. On the trolley she saw the regular food of meat and rice but in double helpings. She eyed it longingly.

Starrk's voice cut through her ravenous stares. She looked over to him.

"I'm so...sorry. I fell asleep and I'm a really heavy sleeper and-" he ran his gloved hand through his wavy brown hair and sighed.-"I'm sorry."

Orihime blinked, taken aback at his apology – but mostly of the fact that an _Arrancar _was _apologising_. He shouldn't care that she hadn't received her meal. It was only his duty to keep her alive and not having food for a few hours wouldn't kill her…

She blinked again and smiled hesitantly, picking up the strange cutlery she had grown accustomed to.

"It's okay..."

He looked up and her and breathed a sigh of relief, falling down onto the couch opposite her bed, holding his hand over his eyes.

Orihime ate the food slowly, thoughtfully chewing, never taking her eyes off of the Espada. The steady rise and fall of his chest; the thin layer of fuzz that coated his chin: the relaxed way he was sat. It was hard to believe he was an Arrancar. If it wasn't for the circular hole in his chest and the jagged white remains of a mask she would think he was quite human. She sighed and concentrated on eating.

It was dark. It always seemed to be dark when he was there, but he was sure there was light once before. It was cold, as well. He was clad in nothing but a fraying rag and he could feel the dirt and sand underfoot. He closed his eyes as a cold wind blew around him, chilling him further. When the shale eyes opened again he could make out faint shapes on the horizon. Groups of hollows gathered together, sharing resources and information. He ran towards them, hoping they could provide something to fill the emptiness inside of him.

As he got closer, the figures became distorted and thin, as if something was draining their energy. He would call out and try to reach them in time to help, but it was the same as always. Whenever he arrived, they would already be dead.

The loneliness ate him up from the inside, devouring him bit by bit.

He could feel himself losing his mind.

He could feel-

Soft.

Something soft. Something warm. Something that didn't die in his presence.

"Starrk."

He looked around desperately, trying to pinpoint the owner of the voice.

"**Starrk**."

It was louder. He could feel it on his body. The warmth and the softness resounding all over him.

It wasn't dark.

He wasn't cold.

He wasn't alone.

"Starrk?"

Through the blur he could make out orange. He blinked his sleep away and found himself looking into amiable eyes the colour of chocolate. He sat up properly on the couch and he noticed her remove her hand from his shoulder. The lack of her warm touch sent a shiver down his spine. Just her touch had pulled him from his recurring dream.

"Um, sorry to wake you, but…I finished my meal, so..." Orihime looked away and smoothed out the ends of her hair.

"Oh, what? You- I fell asleep?"

She nodded and smiled slightly

"I didn't want to wake you, but I thought you might have some Espada type business to attend to"

He joined in her smile and stood up, stretching out his arms and back.

She rose out of courtesy and watched as he pulled the trolley towards the door

"I think your next meal is..."

"Later tonight" she finished for him, wanting to get the point of more food across.

He nodded and backed out of the door, before popping his head in

"What did you say your name was?"

She smiled.

"I didn't, but it's Inoue Orihime."

"Ahh… Goodbye, Orihime."

He closed the door and she stood until the sound of footsteps disappeared, but the hint of a smile on her face remained.

"Goodbye, Starrk."

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And another chapter reveals itself.

Well, i don't know..there are some part in there that don't make sense but what can you do?  
I'll tell you what you could could click that little review button down there and tell me ways to improve and such :)


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